Manually-operable door closing assembly



July 23, 1968 J. KATZ MANUALLY-OPERABLE DOOR CLOSING ASSEMBLY Filed March 25, 1966 lA/VE A/ 702.

11:14 N rz United States Patent 3,393,422 MANUALLY-OPERABLE DOOR CLOSING ASSEMBLY Jack Katz, 6630 W. Colgate Ave.,

Los Angeles, Calif. 90048 Filed Mar. 25, 1966, Ser. No. 537,517 2 Claims. (Cl. 16-1) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A door closing assembly is described in the following specification which is intended to be used for manually closing the overhead type of garage doors, and the like. The assembly includes the usual pull-rope which is afiixed to the garage door near its forward edge, and it also includes a resilient means attached to an intermediate point on the pull-rope for normally holding the pull-rope up off the floor when the door is closed.

The present invention relates to manually-operable door closing means; and it relates more particularly to an improved manually-operable door closing assembly for overhead garage doors, and the like.

It is the usual practice today to provide a pull rope on an overhead garage door to permit the door to be closed. However, this rope is usually fastened to the door at a position displaced some distance in from the outer edge of the door; so that the rope will not drag on the floor, or become pinched between the edge of the door and the floor, when the door is closed.

The reason for mounting of the pull rope in the prior art arrangements at the aforesaid displaced position is so that the rope will remain resonably clean; and also, as mentioned, so that the rope will not have a tendency to become pinched between the door and the floor when the door is closed.

However, it is apparent that when the pull rope is mounted at a point adjacent the outer edge of the door, rather than displaced therefrom, as is the case with the prior art arrangements described above, better leverage is afforded. This means that when the pull rope is actually mounted adjacent the outer edge of the door, the door may be closed with much less effort. This is of particular advantage for women and children.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved assembly which permits the pull rope of the overhead garage door to be mounted adjacent the outer edge of the door for improved leverage, and yet which assures that the pull rope is maintained off the floor, and away from the edge, when the door is closed.

Another object of the invention is to provide such an improved assembly which is excee'dingly simple in its concept, and which can be constructed and installed at minimal cost.

The features of the invention which are believed to be new are set forth in the appended claims. The invention, itself, however, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 shows a typical overhead garage door, and a pull rope attached thereto, constituting the prior art approach to a manually-operable means for closing the door;

Patented July 23, 1968 "ice FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary representation of the door of FIGURE 1 equipped with a door closing assembly embodying the concepts of the invention; and showing the door in an open position;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary representation of the assembly of FIGURE 2; with the assembly in the process of being operated so as to close the door; and

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary view showing the door in its closed condition.

As shown in FIGURE 1, a door 10 is mounted in a doorway 12, so as to constitute an overhead type of garage door, or the like, as is well known to the art.

In order to facilitate the closing of the door 10, a pull rope 14 is attached to the door. However, the pull rope 14 is displaced in from the edge 16, in the prior art arrangement shown in FIGURE 1, so that the rope will not drag on the ground when the door is closed.

However, as pointed out above, when the pull rope 14 is moved to a point adjacent the outer edge 16 of the door, a much better leverage is realized, and the door may be more easily closed. For that reason, in the practice of the present invention, the pull rope 14 is mounted by means, for example, by an eyelet 18, adjacent the outer edge 16 of the door 10.

However, in order to prevent the free end of the pull rope 14 from lying on the floor when the door is closed, a resilient member 20 is attached to a midpoint of the pull rope 14, and to a point on the door 10 displaced from the edge 16. The resilient member 20 is attached to the door 10 by means, for example, of an eyelet 22.

The resilient member 20 may, for example, be an elongated coil spring, or it may be an elongated member of rubber-like material.

It will be appreciated that When the door is open, as shown in FIGURE 2, the resilent member 20 holds the pull rope 14 in the illustrated position. Then, to close the door, the pull rope 14 is grasped, and pulled, so that the assembly assumes the position shown in FIGURE 3. When force is ap'plied to the pull rope 14, the resilient member 20 is stretched, so that the force on the pull rope can be transmitted by the eyelet 18 to the outer edge of the door, so as to close the door.

After the door is closed, and the pull rope 14 is released, the pull rope is held up off the floor by means of the resilient member 20, as shown in FIGURE 4.

The invention provides, therefore, a simple and inexpensive mechanism, which facilitates to a large extent, the manual closing of an overhead garage door, or the like.

While a particular embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, it is clear that modifications may be made. It is intended to cover all modifications which fall within the scope of the invention in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A manually-operable door closing assembly for use in conjunction with an overhead garage door, and the like, said assembly including: a first rigid mounting means affixed to said door adjacent the outer edge of said door; a flexible pull-rope 'having one end fastened to said rigid mounting means and having a free end; a second mounting means aflixed to said door at a point displaced in from said outer edge; and a resilient member secured at one end to said second mounting member and secured at the other end to an intermediate point on said pull-rope so as to draw the pull-rope inwardly away from said outer edge of said door and hold the free end of said pull-rope up from said outer edge when the door is closed.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 10/1886 Hicks 16-74 6/1930 Occhiuzzo 1687 Bird 49-203 Wolf et a1 160201 X Bear 49-203 Lambert 160-201 BOBBY R. GAY, Primary Examiner.

D. L. TROUTMAN, Assistant Examiner. 

